This will be the last Easter that falls on 4/20 for a long time ⌛️. It is fitting that the words mercy and grace would be on my mind, as those are part of the Christian celebration of Easter as much as resurrection. Which, funny enough, would tie more into the Pagan celebration of the spring equinox which was dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre and celebrated rebirth. Just a fun fact for you there but not meant to take anything away from what has been a beautiful day with Mikey, Chas, and her sister’s family. I was so appreciative of the good company and food! I could not help but think about grace as we shared our meal. Namely the grace I have been shown by these people who invited me into their home!
Anyway, back to mercy and grace, do we have any reason to not afford these gifts to our fellow man? If not then why do we withhold them from ourselves so often? How best to gain respect from others than by meeting their shortcoming with a forgiving “I Understand”. Working with others is how we soften the world around us. The best part is it softens us as we do it… Does anyone think we need to be so hard in this current age? People are stabbing people thinking it makes them a bad mother fucker, and they can’t even deal when the internet goes out for a few minutes. That is not strength or hardness that is FEAR!
Maybe take water as an example for how to cooperate, water is pretty powerful:
Once, in a quiet valley, there flowed a gentle river. Over many years, the river had carved its way through the land, shaping the earth with patient persistence.
One day, a great storm swept through the valley, and a massive stone broke loose from the mountainside, tumbling into the river’s path. The stone was jagged and unyielding, and when the river reached it, the waters could no longer flow smoothly. The river could have fought the stone—raged against it, churned and frothed in anger—but instead, it simply flowed around it.
Over time, the river’s mercy softened the stone’s edges. Its currents, though gentle, carried away the stone’s roughness grain by grain. Seasons passed, and the stone, once harsh and unkind, became smooth and warm in the sun. Birds perched upon it, and children played on its polished surface.
It is by being willing to forgive others that we can learn how to forgive ourselves sometimes. At least it was for me, a guy who was always told he was smart, believed it for a time, learned he was a dumbass, and now believes in himself again. It is the ultimate redemption story, and you can make your own starting right now. All you have to do is change EVERYTHING!
It is at this point that I want to share a Christian prayer that has meant a lot to me the Saint Francis Prayer (Asissi not Desales):
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Thank you for riding with me! Happy Easter!
Visibility: Cloudy
*GPS Coordinate Data Provided on bottom left corner with date and speed*
Destinations in West Virginia by appearance:
Aarons
Antioch
Eden’s Fork
Sissonville
Charleston (35:00)
West Side – Orchard Manor/Little Page – Patrick Street Plaza (39:20)
South Charleston (47:30)
US60/MacCorkle Avenue – Montrose – I64
Dunbar (53:00)
Institute
Cross Lanes (59:00)
WV62/Goff Mountain – Nitro Marketplace – Shamrock Village [(1:16:00) The apartments were numbered by an insane person!] – WV62/WV622/Big Tyler Road (1:19:55) – Doc Bailey Road
Poca (1:26:20)
Dairy Road – Charleston Road (1:34:45)
Nitro (1:37:00)
WV25/1st Avenue – Nitro/Saint Albans Bridge
Saint Albans (1:44:30)
US60/MacCorkle Avenue
Jefferson
South Charleston – Spring Hill (1:54:00)
Kanawha Turnpike (1:58:00) – WV601/Jefferson Road – US119/Corridor G – Southridge
Charleston – Corridor G/South Hills (2:18:30) – I64
Listen while you ride along: here is my Spotify playlist!
https://noggy.org – The Noggy.Net
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570980376051 – my Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt53MMb1R6eOf49jw7LQkPw – my YouTube
https://venmo.com/noggynet – my Venmo (just in case 😉
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